Chapter Nine: Rain, Rain, Go Away

At the visitors' request, the young people sang "The Fountain", a quartet with which everyone was delighted. Then Nikolai sang a song that he had just learned.

"On a lovely night by the moon's fair glow,
What ecstasy to know
That someone in this world there'll be
Who is thinking only of thee!
And o'er the strings of her golden lyre
Weave fingers that never tire,
Spinning a rapturous melody,
That is calling only to thee, to thee!
But when paradise at last shall dawn,
Thy friend, alas, will be gone!"

Count Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace", page 102

"It wasn't her." An oily voice slipped through the air emotionlessly, entwining itself into the ear of the listener. "The identity was a falsified match."

"Someone set us up." Another voice growled, and the sound of a fist slamming to the table rose above all else.

Two individuals sat in a dark room, a rectangular wooden table the only thing separating the duo. The only light came from a bulb attached to a wire that was hanging from the ceiling; it was far too long and reached perilously close to the top of the table. This same table was ornamented only by one chair and one frothing mug of cheap beer. The individual seated in the chair was clad in a torn suit, and he slouched down as if in a drunken stupor of misery. His voice, however, was deep and scathing; completely contrary to his appearance.

The individual standing on the other side of the table, however, was much more formidable when one looked upon him. He seemed to be made entirely of dark mist, and parts of his body seemed to be attempting to stretch out to meld with the shadows behind him. The light bulb that hung so close to the table illuminated his onyx eyes, giving him a frighteningly emotionless gaze that fell so steadily on the man across from him. It was the shadowy man who had first spoken.

"We took her fingerprint from her defense armament she used originally to attack me and cross referenced it with the one given to us, as well as cross referencing her description with the one that we obtained. The descriptions matched perfectly; the fingerprint didn't. Someone is attempting to deliver the woman into our custody in place of the individual we are seeking." The shadow's voice slipped through the air like the knife he had previously confiscated from Dawn.

"Have you located our true target?" The air around the seated man briefly smelled his alcohol before he took a drink of his beer, but he coughed on the mouthful as he observed the shadow curtly nod.

"We have indeed located him."

"Him? The description provided clear details of a female, not a male."

The shadow's emotionless tone turned to one of an adult trying to explain a simple concept to a child. "As I previously stated, our information was faulty. Clearly our supplier did not expect us to be provided with a clear, traceable fingerprint of our so-called target. I assure you, our real target is most definitely male."

The seated man waved his beer impatiently; alcohol always loosened his tongue and made him more irritable. "So? And? Therefore? Who is our target?"

"As you may know," the dark being was melting away into the shadows behind him, indicating his interaction with the opposite individual was soon to be closed, "we have received a verified scrap of DNA from one of our more…reliable sources. On a whim, I scanned the DNA of one of the students I briefly captured at Sky High. It was a perfect match with our sample."

This was really beginning to irritate the almost-drunken dealer. "Make your point."

"It's a pyrokinetic we're looking for; not a telekinetic. And he's Barron Battle's son."

-----

"When in a sidecar, be sure to keep your hands, feet, possible capes, and all miscellaneous accessories inside the vehicle. I know some of you may have heard of Stratosphere, the Hero Support for Vortex, who was ripped out of her sidecar because her scarf caught in a tree."

Mr. Boy chuckled nervously, uneasily enunciating the phrase 'caught in a tree'.

Dawn twirled a strand of her dark blonde hair and reviewed the day's events. It hadn't been quite as action packed as her first few days at Sky High, but it had certainly been enjoyable. Getting a hug from Warren trumped battling a giant tower of darkness any day.

"Miss Odelle, would you please turn your attention back to the class?" Mr. Boy's voice rang dimly in her ears, and she jerked her head back up.

"Right, sorry; Stratosphere, Vortex, scarf." She tried not to turn red at being caught daydreaming.

"Oh, um, yes. Very good." His right eye twitched involuntarily and he looked back to the chalkboard.

"So as I was saying…" Mr. Boy's voice droned on, and Dawn once again removed her attention span from his teaching to her daydreaming.

The classroom had now again resumed its typical status. Dawn was twirling her hair and her thoughts were on Warren, the rest of the class was either zoned out, intently focusing on the lesson, or asleep, and Mr. Boy was oblivious to anyone not paying attention.

Dawn's jade hued eyes traveled to the window. The heavens had opened, and droplets were now trailing down the glass, creating diminutive rivulets of water.

Great, she griped to herself, now it's raining. That'll be fun.

Normally the telekinetic loved the occasional shower of rain. Dancing around in it had been a favorite pastime of hers when she was smaller, but she rarely found time to do it anymore. Perhaps her currently confined status was part of the reason she resented the torrential downfall, but whatever it was, it seemed to be ruining her good mood.

During the rest of the class, she reasoned to herself that Warren had only hugged her because he knew she wanted a hug, and he felt bad about having upset her. As much as she wanted to think differently, her logical side won over the Hollywood dreamer side yet again.

The last bell finally rang, indicating the end of school. Dawn got her books together and walked out into the hall, mingling with the other classes. This was one of the few times of day that heroes and sidekicks were together, but after her inner 'discussion' about Warren's hug motives, it didn't seem to give Dawn the joy that it usually did.

"I think I need another hug." She grumbled, shifting her pack on her back.

Before she knew it, two arms were wrapped around her from behind. She had hoped to feel the warm leather jacket, smell the gentle spices of Warren's cologne, and hear his voice murmuring in her ear, but instead, she saw that it was Layla.

"There; you're hugged," She chirped, "why the long face?"

Dawn shrugged and hugged her backpack straps closer; the cold air must have been wafting in from outside, and the rain wasn't helping.

"It's no big deal, really. Just feeling hug deprived, you know?"

Layla nodded and threw her arm around the other girl's shoulders, walking with her to the outside. "I know the feeling. Back with Will and all, I never really did know what to do when I was feeling that way! I felt awkward when I hugged him, like it would make a huge deal if I hugged him too long or too short, and…"

Dawn started to count the floor tiles she stepped over, zoning out of the conversation as she had a tendency to do.

36, 37, 38, hey, two at a time! 40, 42, 44, 46…

"Dawn, that's the mad science lab. I don't think we were going to visit Medulla."

The telekinetic snapped out of her reverie and nodded nonchalantly. "Right, right. Outside we go."

Once the two had exited the building, they were pleased to note that the weather-controlling female who had assisted Dawn and Warren in the cafeteria had now cleared up the rain specifically over Sky High. Anyone going to the bus was safe, but as soon as Ron got over the edge, the pattering tap of precipitation was unmistakably audible.

The stop nearest to Dawn's house was gloomy. The rain had become heavier and was now difficult to see through, and though the day was young – Dawn's watch read four thirty – the sky had become black with storm clouds.

"See you tomorrow, kid." Ron cheerfully mock-saluted a farewell as Dawn got off alone. She hated being the only one who exited at that stop, especially after her incident with the shadow, but it couldn't be helped.

"See you, Ron." She called, stepping blithely down the steps of the bus. The doors snapped shut behind her, and she found herself being drenched with rain.

"Wait," she muttered to herself, "if I can…why can't I…" She resisted the urge to kick herself as she mentally parted the raindrops above her. As soon as they got about a foot above her head, she used her telekinetic ability to swipe them to the sides of her, effectively keeping them off her body. "You've really got to get used to being able to do that, Dawn."

She found herself talking out loud, albeit under her breath, but her words, coupled with the pouring rain, silenced the footsteps that approached quickly behind her.

---

A/N: Yes! There, finally I got it done. I was actually considering only giving you the conversation between the villians, but then I realized that wouldn't be very fair, so there you have it. The whole of chapter nine!

:runs away to go and write more:

Corvaisis